Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a disorder which, until recently, had no formalized name, received little attention and was believed by the majority of the medical community to be a psychological rather than medical disorder. However, as information about the disorder has been disseminated, the symptoms associated with the disorder, as well as the growing number of people afflicted with this disorder, have steadily increased to alarming proportions. In fact, CFS is being reported with increasing frequency throughout the world.
Chronic fatigue syndrome is a puzzling, exasperating illness whereby previously healthy, vigorous and productive young or middle-aged adults are suddenly afflicted with a persistent, overwhelming fatigue. When such a severe debilitating fatigue extends beyond six months and psychiatric disease is excluded, the condition has been termed "chronic fatigue syndrome." Despite the number of people afflicted with chronic fatigue syndrome and the recent research attention, to date, the cause of the disorder remains unknown.
The medical community has only recently defined the term "chronic fatigue syndrome" to have a distinct and well-defined meaning. In the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, Vol. 84, February, 1991, chronic fatigue syndrome is defined as:
"A fatigue which is the principal symptom, which has a definite onset, and is severe, disabling and affects both physical and mental functioning, and furthermore that fatigue should have been present for a minimum of six months at which it was present for more than 50% of the time."
One or more of the following symptoms are generally associated with the syndrome, such as sleep disturbances (changes in the duration of sleep and/or quality of sleep), impairments in concentration and short-term memory, chronic and recurrent low-grade fever, and musculoskeletal pain. The changes in the duration of sleep could be hypersomnia or increased sleep, or insomnia or reduced sleep. The changes of the quality of sleep are contemplated to be due to a decrease of REM sleep. There is also generally a restriction or lack of ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a healthy human being, (resulting from loss of psychological or physiological function). There is further a definite persistent change from a previous level of functioning.
Mood disturbances such as depressed mood, and anhedonia, anxious mood, emotional lability, irritability, and severity of the mood disturbances should be assessed on standards scales. For diagnosis purposes, a patient's symptoms should be evaluated to determine whether such symptoms are attributed by a psychological condition, such as a depressive disorder rather than chronic fatigue syndrome. It should thus be determined whether the disorder is sufficient to meet the diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorders. In CFS patients, myalgia, which is pain or aching felt in the muscles, should be disproportionate to exertion. Such myalgia should be distinguished from feelings of weakness and pain felt in other areas such as the joints. Certain patients should be excluded from the definition of CFS, such as patients with established medical conditions known to produce chronic fatigue such as severe anemia. Additionally, patients with schizophrenia, manic depressive illness, substance abuse, eating disorders, or proven organic brain disease should be excluded as chronic fatigue syndrome sufferers. However, other generalized psychiatric disorders may be attributed to chronic fatigue syndrome.
A variety of treatments have been suggested and utilized for the treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,312,817, there is described a treatment of the chronic fatigue syndrome wherein a pharmaceutically-acceptable cholinesterase inhibitor or a prodrug therefore is administered for the treatment of fatigue syndromes. This treatment is based on the understanding that the mechanism of the fatigue could be an imbalance in the cholinergic nicotinic transmitter system, both peripherally and centrally, which decreases the acetylcholine in the central and peripheral synapses. However, this therapy has proven ineffective, as this mechanism does not properly describe the etiology of chronic fatigue syndrome.
In a further example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,055,296 discloses a treatment involving the administration of mammalian liver extract. Yet another example is provided in U.S. Patent No. 5,013,739, whereby an opiate receptor antagonist is administered as a treatment option. In addition, a variety of drugs have been prescribed for symptomatic relief including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, tricyclic anti-depressants, sleep-inducing drugs, tranquilizers, anti-anxiety and stress-relieving drugs such as androstenediol and androstenetriol. Such symptomatic treatment efforts, while providing temporary relief for one of the associated symptoms, have in general provided no long-term treatment of the disorder as a whole.
In addition to the physical pain associated with this disorder, there is also a severe mental and emotional toll placed on the CFS sufferer. As a result of the prolonged and debilitating fatigue, and flu-like symptoms, CFS sufferers are forced to reduce their level of activity, and are often unable to lead what would be considered a normal life.
Accordingly, there is a genuine need for a method of treating chronic fatigue syndrome with a reliable, and effective technique which allows a CFS sufferer to regain a normal level of activity without the associated persistent fatigue characterized by the disorder.